ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. hand — help
  9. mark — a grade
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wake — a trail
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mark — a trace
  18. clip — a video
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mark — to pay attention

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com